Options And Opportunity–We’re All Over It
I awoke this morning to a stream of sunshine peeking through the bedroom blinds. Pulling them aside, I was rewarded with more brilliant sunshine and a high, clear, pale blue sky with not a cloud in sight.
Down at street level, I saw pink, red, and orange blossoms overflowing from every garden. The palm trees in front of our house seem two feet taller than when I last looked at them closely. Everything is green and growing.
This is January in Panama.
We left the country mid-December for our holiday travels and couldn’t wait to decamp. December is the end of the rainy season in this country. Don’t believe anyone who tells you the rains end by Dec. 1. They don’t. Through December, skies are cloudy and grey and rain can fall in deluges. December in Panama City is hot, humid, and wet.
But, then, ah…January. Thanks to all that rain, this country is bursting with color this month. This is the time to be in Panama, to appreciate all she has to offer. The rains are over, the humidity is down, and the great outdoors and beautiful beaches beckon.
We’re glad to be back and ready to dig in. Alas, we won’t have much time for fun at the beach. Too much work to be done.
Live and Invest Overseas enjoyed a year of tremendous growth in 2012, welcoming more than 100,000 new readers. We recognize that this is a function of the times we’re living in. Options are more important right now than they have ever been, and, here at Live and Invest Overseas, we’re all about options. In 2013, we intend to deliver both more options and opportunities, and, as important, the support you need to act on them.
Specifically, here’s what’s planned for this New Year:
January
Live and Invest in Belize Conference (Jan. 30-Feb. 1)–Not surprisingly, this event is sold out. Belize offers some of your best options for a new life and an investment in the Caribbean…plus our favorite place on earth to live the self-sustaining life (in the country’s Cayo District). Belize is also one of the easiest places for an American to open a bank account right now.
February
Live and Invest in Ecuador Conference (Feb. 13-15)–This event is on its way to selling out. As of this writing a handful of places remain available in the room. Ecuador is our pick for the best place to live well even on a very modest retirement budget. Latin America Correspondent Lee Harrison, one-time resident of Ecuador himself, will be center-stage for this important conference to show attendees how to get the biggest return possible from whatever retirement budget they have to work with in this beautiful, welcoming country.
March
“How To Buy Real Estate Overseas–A Guide For Investors And Retirees” available in bookstores near you. Last year, I spent six months compiling and recording my experiences and recommendations, successes and, yes, failures, buying and selling real estate in more than 20 countries over the past 20 years. The resulting book is being produced by Wiley & Sons now and will be available in bookstores across the United States (and on Amazon, too) starting in March.
April
Retire Overseas Conference in San Antonio, Texas–This is the event you want to attend if you’re considering the idea of living or retiring overseas but don’t yet know where you want to go. Over the three days of this conference, the only U.S. event we’ll hold this year, we’ll showcase the world’s top 20 retire overseas options, with the help of foreign retirees and expats with firsthand experience living in each one.
June
Live and Invest in Panama Conference–Panama remains the world’s top retirement haven and the best place in the world today to start and run an Internet business. The entire Live and Invest Overseas team pitches in for our Panama events, to make sure you come away armed with everything you need to realize whatever dreams you have of a new life in this remarkable little country.
July
Live and Invest in Europe Conference in Dublin, Ireland–Depending how you look at things, Europe is a basket-case right now…or a land of opportunity. We prefer to focus on the latter and have planned our first Europe event in five years. We’re basing this conference in Dublin, but we’ll be showcasing opportunities not only in Ireland but also in France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and beyond.
August
Asia tour–Lief and I will travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, then from there to Singapore and Thailand, reporting from the road. Asia offers tremendous opportunity right now for the retiree on a budget. As Intrepid Correspondent Paul Terhorst, with decades of experience in this part of the world, puts it, “All of Asia is more affordable right now than the most affordable choices in Latin America.”
In addition, as it becomes harder and harder for Americans to open a bank account overseas, Singapore banks continue to welcome foreign, including American clients. We think it’s worth making the trip to speak with them in person.
September
Global Property Investing Summit in Panama City, Panama–An investment in foreign real estate is the smartest thing you could do with your money right now and an important part of any plan for taking control of your own life and your family’s future. We’ve persuaded Lief Simon, therefore, to host a special event this year focused on where and how to buy property overseas. Details as soon as they’re finalized.
In addition, this year we’ll also host another conference in Medellin, Colombia, and, if we can pull the program together in time, an event on the Caribbean coast of Mexico.
Options and opportunity. We’re all over it.
Kathleen Peddicord
P.S. One more very important thing on our calendar this year:
Construction of the first houses at Los Islotes.
Lief and I have been chomping at the bit for more than three years, putting all the pieces in place behind the scenes to begin the work toward realizing the vision we hold for the community we intend to create on the Pacific coast of Panama’s Azuero Peninsula. Lief is at the property today inspecting the work of Project Manager Gary Moseley, who spent the month of December preparing the way (rains notwithstanding!) for the infrastructure required to begin construction of the first three houses, one for our own use and two for other lot owners.
I’m meeting with project architect Ricardo Arosemena this week to review his plans for these first structures. After that meeting, I should be able to set a date for the groundbreaking.
To say that we’re excited about all this is an understatement. As I said, we’ve been working quietly, patiently, with Panamanian review and planning boards, crossing every “t” and dotting every “i,” for three years. At last, the fun is about to begin.